


the quiet apartment

by iseemikimouse



Series: The Friend [3]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Angst, Character Study, Gen, M/M, No Dialogue, he tires to make the best of his situation, lonely character, someone please continue to hug hyunjin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-05-30 16:22:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19406953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iseemikimouse/pseuds/iseemikimouse
Summary: Hyunjin's apartment is too loud with the silence in every corner but it wasn't always this way.





	the quiet apartment

**Author's Note:**

> hello and welcome to part three. i really am on a roll with these little stories which makes me happy as i'm getting back into the roll of writing ^^ so yay! 
> 
> so in this series (i was waiting for this story to come up) there are really two different ways of story telling. you'll be able to tell which one is which by the titles. the titles that begin with 'the' will almost always be told like they're in the past and like character studies where the titles with 'when' will be parts of the main storyline. remember that these stories can read as stand alone or they can be read in the series. 
> 
> i think that's all i have for you so with that being said, i hope you have a wonderful day and if not, then remember to stop and take a deep breath. also remember to take of yourself! i haven't met a single person that likes being sick. 
> 
> so without further ado, enjoy and please let me know what you think~

When Hyunjin was eighteen, he moved out of his parent’s house to attend school in Seoul where he fell in love with the city. He liked to watch the city light and hear people screaming at all hours of the day. He liked the number of people walking down the streets and the way the city seemed to have a mind of its own. Everything about Seoul he loved. 

He spent his first year in college in the dorms, partying like a true first year and studying like he was going to fail every class. He met his friends in various places, learning to love them and genuinely befriending them. He found a job he actually liked and rekindled a friendship from high school (it really was Choi San doing the sing-off. Hyunjin should have known this as San was very popular in high school for pulling shit like that. He got detention almost every day for it, but the smile on San’s face told Hyunjin everything he needed to know.)

Three months after Hyunjin turned twenty, he had enough money saved for over a year of rent for an apartment. 

He’d gone in search of a roommate by asking his friends, but everyone seemed to already have their roommates, or they wanted to stay in the dorms with some of the younger ones. Which was fine for Hyunjin. He understood people were already in leases or they had prior commitments, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t any less lonely when it came to the apartment. 

Yes, it’s nice to have an apartment by himself. He’s able to leave the dishes in the sink, not close the door when taking a shower, leaving the whole place hot and steamy. He loves being able to leave his easel in the middle of the living room without anyone telling him to move it or put it away like his parents used to tell him. 

He was free to do what he pleased. 

But sometimes he wished he could have someone to tell him to do his dishes or to remind him to buy milk. He wished that in a blink of an eye, he could have someone tell him whether or not his painting is a shit piece (he still thinks the sunflower is shit, but he’s getting over it, he thinks) or hell, even to close the door when he showers. He wished to have someone to spend late nights with, just talking about anything that comes to mind or a bond with a roommate.

But that’s not how the world works or his friends. 

Everyone is busy, he knew this but his apartment is also super close to the school. He did this on purpose (he’d like to say for him but really for his friends). Chan and Woojin lived almost twenty minutes away from campus as their apartment was the only really cheap housing unit they could find. Changbin lives with Felix twenty minutes the opposite of Chan and Woojin. Because of all of this, he figured he would be the responsible one. 

His apartment was a fifteen-minute walk from the gates of their campus to Hyunjin’s front door, and honestly, it proved, at first, to be a fantastic investment. If he wanted to save money and eat at home, he could do so. If he forgot an assignment in between his hour of classes, then he could really run home to get it. 

But really, if someone needed to spend the night either away from campus or the buses were no longer running, his apartment is super close for everyone to crash. 

Chan would come into the apartment, looking like he was dead just by standing on his feet. He’d wave to Hyunjin when he came in before sluggishly moving to the second bedroom. Hyunjin always knew never to bother the elder when he locked the door and placed his sign with large red letters. (Hyunjin had to put magnets on the back of the board to prevent Chan from drilling holes into the door. He didn’t want to deal with the pain of having to either repair or cover the damage Chan might have caused.) 

Woojin would come when he was tired of spending nights in the theater room. He too would smile at Hyunjin every time he saw him before hiding and falling asleep in the second bedroom. There were even times when Woojin wouldn’t even make it to the bed and instead just curl up on the hallway floor. Those were the times that Hyunjin had to either wake his oldest friend or to drag him to sleep on the bed. But those were also the next mornings where there was a warm breakfast for him waiting at the table with a sheepish smile on Woojin’s face. 

Felix always came with Jisung and Seungmin to which everything was loud. Jisung and Felix would try not to screech at everything while Seungmin and Hyunjin could only stare and shake their heads, praying they didn’t leave Hyunjin homeless. Those were the days that Hyunjin felt less alone in his apartment because it  _ actually _ felt like he had roommates. He always had someone slipping into his bed and cuddling him, not leaving any room for arguments and Hyunjin being Hyunjin never argued about said cuddles. 

Jeongin used to come when he was hiding from Minho, and he was positive the third oldest wasn’t going to follow him. He’d always come with a bright smile and food before talking off Hyunjin’s ear and asking questions about the current artwork in the middle of the living room. They’d sit and do homework before drowning themselves in Disney marathons, both of them singing along to every song they knew. (The both of them knew a lot of Disney songs, Hyunjin being able to belt out  _ Tale old as Time _ perfectly while Jeongin was obsessed with every song from  _ The Lion King _ . It was those days he knew he’d be getting complaints from them, but the bright smile on Jeongin’s face was totally worth them.)

With Jeongin came Minho almost a day later. 

Minho would demand to know where Jeongin was to shower him with all the love and affection the dancer could afford to give. It was at those moments Hyunjin could see the fond look on Jeongin’s face when Minho would pepper him with kisses before placing a large one on Jeongin’s lips. (There was also an instance where Jeongin kisses Minho, but the little shit swore to eat Hyunjin’s kneecaps if he ever spoke about it and well, Hyunjin  _ actually _ likes his knees caps, thank you very much.) The two of them would stay in Hyunjin’s apartment, too lazy to actually go back to the dorms. They’d remain wrapped up in each other before bringing Hyunjin into their cuddles.

Changbin had the second copy of Hyunjin’s apartment key. He had obtained the key days after Hyunjin had been working on a project for school and had forgotten to eat. He was too weak to open the door on his own, which had Changbin panicking that something was terribly wrong. The landlord made Changbin promise to use the key for good and not for the nonsense the others had been doing to the place. Of course, Changbin had agreed and would stop by whenever he had the chance. 

He was the one leaving Hyunjin different notes of the chores that needed to be done around the apartment and when Hyunjin was out of a particular food item someone liked. He left little hints around the place that he too also spent the night when he needed to. The soft footfalls of making sure Hyunjin was asleep and not just faking sleep before deciding against using the second bedroom and cuddling to Hyunjin that night. 

Of course, there were times where more than one person the 2000 line would come in or even when all nine would plan a sleepover where his home was the loudest. He’d always called his landlord and let his neighbor know beforehand when all eight of them were coming. While everyone seemed to appreciate the jester, he knew it could have been a little annoying to choose a different place to spend the night or to deal with all the noise. 

But those times hadn’t happened in a long while. 

His friends would come and go, all of them coming back at one point to grab the things they had left behind. They were subtle about moving their items back into their original places that Hyunjin didn’t notice it until he went to clean the room one day. 

Gone was Chan’s KEEP OUT sign followed by the massive plushie Jisung would smack everyone with. Woojin’s sweaters and Minho’s sweatpants were also gone, leaving most of the wardrobe bare. Most of Jeongin’s hygiene products and Seungmin’s hair care products were gone, either thrown out by Hyunjin for being too old or taken away by either of the boys. Changbin too had taken the different notebooks he and Felix had scattered around the entire apartment. 

He tried not to let the emptiness of his friend’s things get to him because they’ll be back but six months into the absence of his friend’s presence in his home, left a scar in his heart. Most of the time, he felt almost selfish for always wanting his friends around but then there was a little part of him telling, it was okay to feel like he was. That feeling, however, was tossed to the side because  _ wow Hwang Hyunjin, you’re relying on your friends again. Tsk tsk tsk. _

His once stocked fridge was almost always empty, save for a couple of things Hyunjin did eat when he remembered too. (He always kept something edible in the fridge, though, just in case something happened to him again like it had done when he stopped eating for a couple of days.) He’d used to buy snacks he knew the others liked, but ended up feeling like he was wasting money by leaving the snacks up until the expiration date, so he stopped that the second month his friends had left his apartment. 

But what drives Hyunjin up the wall now, is the silence. 

The silence is too loud for him. 

There’s no laughter minus the times Hyunjin sits at his counter with his phone in hand, nor was there quiet whispers of  _ can you believe this happened today. _

Everything is silent like there’s never anybody in the place. 

At first he tried to play music or bring his friends over again, but he was always met with a music-filled silence or a no. 

And he understood, he swears he understands why his friends seemed to have left his apartment, but that doesn’t mean it hurts. 

So of course when Changbin complains in the group chat about not wanting to sleep in the studio once more, Hyunjin extends the invitation for Changbin to come over and sleep on an actual bed. He’s either met with silence (he hates it when he kills the chat. He really doesn’t mean too) or an ‘it’s okay, Hyunjin. I’m just venting. Thanks, though’. 

Hyunjin lays on his bed just then, with his eyes open staring at the ceiling, the silence in the apartment way too loud for his liking. He begins to wonder that if he moved what would happen? He’d find a smaller apartment that would cost less money, but then he would feel bad. If anyone needed a place to stay, then there wouldn’t be one or if they wanted to get away. He couldn’t just leave his apartment for the reason that the silence is too loud. 

_ That’s selfish Hyunjin, he tells himself. _

_ I know, _ he replies when he closes his eyes and tries to fall asleep. 

And he does. 

He falls asleep to the silence he hates so much, and if tears roll down his face, then he makes no effort to move them. 

**Author's Note:**

> twitter: @iseemikimouse
> 
> cc: @iseemikimouse


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